The Changing Life of Kise
by Salazar-Tipton
Summary: Set after the practice game or Seirin vs. Kaijo: Kise starts seeing Kuroko in a different way after finding him in the locker room showers. Everything he knew is changing and so are his feelings towards Kuroko. Rated M for future chapters. Kikuro to come.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone was happy to hit the showers, except me. Revenge sounded great, but that doesn't change the fact that I lost—to Kuroko. Somehow I'm glad it was him and not one of my other old teammates. Maybe it's because I respect him basketball more than the others'.

"Hey, Kise, you coming or what," Kasamatsu asked. I shook my head slowly. "Fine, but stop your crying already!"

He jabbed me in the side. I feel into the wall, clutching my side. I know he means well, but _ow_. My legs slowly buckled until I was sitting on the floor of the hallway. _How did I lose? _I lowered my head into my hands.

Doors opened to my right, and I quickly straightened up. About half of the Seirin team walked out of the locker room. No Kuroko. I really wanted to talk to him. "I'll just wait until he comes out," I said to myself. After a few minutes everyone had left except Kuroko and Kagami. I would have gone in, but I did not want to deal with the latter. I heard the doors open again.

"We'll be waiting outside deciding where to eat," Kagami called into the locker room.

I heard Kuroko's muffled response over the sound of the showers. He was always the last one to shower, but not by choice. The team would forget about him. Not being noticed may help during basketball games, but not in the real world.

Kagami's thudding footsteps echoed through the hall. I ducked into a doorway to avoid making eye contact. He passes me adjusting his bag strap and muttering under his breath about the Generation of Miracles. Soon his footsteps died out, and the door at the end of the hall opened and closed. He was gone.

I peeked my head into the locker room to make sure I hadn't miscounted. It was empty. I quickly went inside and slowly closed the door behind me. I followed the sound of the showers.

Kuroko had his back turned to the door. His face was in the full blast of the shower head The rest of him was trickling with hot water and soap subs. I'd seen this sight countless times in middle school—after games and practices—but somehow it was different now. As I looked at his pale skin slowly turning red under the scalding water, I felt like I was trespassing.

Instead of making my presence known, I froze. All I could do was stare at the sight before me; his hair sticking to his neck; his shoulder blades moving under his taught skin; his vertebrae poking out and coated in suds; his lower back dimples . . . My lips slowly parted as my gaze went further and further down his body. As they trailed back up, my breathing became heavy, my stomach was turning in knots, and I was feeling a disturbance below my waist. All sorts of thoughts started filling my head—both pure and impure.

Kuroko turned around to wash his back. I jumped behind the partition. Luckily, his eyes were clamped shut due to the water still dripping over them. I peeked back into the room and took in his front. _Has his face always looked like that? _Kuroko had just run his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face. I'd ever seen him like that. His usually soft features now seemed sharp and striking. Somehow his whole structure shifted to resemble that of Apollo.

Kuroko was now stunning. I wanted to shift my gaze further down, but my eyes were glued on his new-to-me face. His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes still shut. I desperately wanted to see how his bright-blue eyes compared to this version of him, but they stayed closed against the water pouring over them.

My eyes flicked away from his face to his hands that were lathering his chest. The bar of soap was slowly going over his soft, pink nipples. It slid over them easily, leaving a trail of suds behind. My eyes followed eagerly as Kuroko's hands then trailed down to his abdomen. It wasn't particularly chiseled or muscular, but somehow its flat, softness was extremely appealing. I wanted to be closer; to feel his stomach myself. His hands went down further and spread to the sides. They massaged the soap into his upper thighs. I couldn't help but center my focus between his hands at his crotch. I pulled my lower lip between my teeth, biting it softly. My mind went blank as I stared with wide eyes. The water was dripping off him with the suds following. I felt myself getting aroused at the sight.

_Why is this so different than all the other times? _I thought to myself. _It never used to be like this. What changed? It feels so wrong to see him like this, but I like it! _I ran out of the showers and through the locker room before he could see me. I didn't bother to close the door behind me. I ran down the hall and outside. My hands hit the water fountain hard.

The game was completely out of my mind. I couldn't focus on anything expect how Kuroko made me feel. I ran the cold water over my head to try and calm down. I was in my own world until I heard Midorima behind me.


	2. Chapter 2

_In this chapter are some direct quotes from the show. I do not claim to own them._

* * *

"Gemini's horoscope predicted terrible luck for you today, but I didn't think you'd actually lose."

"It's nice to see you too, Midorimacchi. Long time no see. Can't we exchange pleasantries before you start picking on me?" I'd usually be more receptive to his brand of criticism, but not today, not with my life changing around me at Mock 2. I lifted my head and turned to face him.

"With that kind of attitude it's no wonder fate didn't choose your side today," he replied calmly before adjusting his glasses with a taped finger.

"I see you haven't stopped taping your fingers. Guess you haven't changed that much," I said snidely. I don't know what had gotten into me. I was never this curt with any of the guys from Teiko.

"And I can see you've changed quiet a bit for such a sort amount of time-other than on the court, that is. I expected more improvement from you. You're still no good. All you do is get close and dunk. Shooting from far away is the only way to go-more points. Plus, it requires more than average skill."

"How many times have we had this debate, Midorimacchi? Even Kurokocchi agrees with me on this: dunking is a better choice than going for a three-pointer every single time. You may never miss, but you have no power, no fire behind your game." Midorima gave a half smile.

"I remember, but I'm not here to discuss old times. I only came to watch the game. We'll be playing Seirin in the division primaries. But honestly, they're not good enough. There's no way we are going to lose to them. I suggest you give up on this idea of revenge."

Midorima turned just as his friend came around the corner on a bicycle pulling a cart. _Same old Midorimacchi_, I thought to myself with a laugh.

"Shouldn't you be talking to Kurokocchi about his playing? Congratulate him and whatnot?" I called to him.

"There's no need. Besides, he and I don't get along. He's a B-blood type; I'm an A-blood type." He stepped up into the cart (much to his friend's discontent) and motioned for them to leave. He turned his head away from me, cradling his frog.

My back hit the edge if the water fountain hard. I slumped against it and sighed. _I might as well go shower now. _

The locker room was empty when I got there. The whole school was probably empty at this point. I stripped down at my locker and set my dirty clothes inside next to a picture of all of us from last year, and walked into the shower room. I took my favorite one and pressed the knob, prepared for a blast of cold water. My skin instantly raised in a wave of goosebumps; my pecks tensed at the sensation my nipples hard with the water running smoothly over them. I stood there still, waiting for the water to heat up.

_Midorima took my mind off Kurokocchi, but only for a minute. Should I go and talk to him about this? He isn't the most sensitive. Aeominecchi would just laugh at me. Muracchi wouldn't understand and just walk off with his face stuffed. Momoi would freak out seeing as she claims to be in love with Kurokocchi. That just leaves. . ._

The water was now a good temperature. I began lathering my salt-coated skin. My hands slipped over my soapy skin. I thought of what this look like to someone else. My mind floated back to Kuroko: his pale skin turning red under the hot water, his hands pressing into his slippery skin, his hair pushed back away from his face-showing his injury. The same feelings I felt earlier bubbled back up to the surface. I blushed when I felt heat rising in my stomach. Blood started filling me up. _Good thing everyone's left for the day_.

My hand wrapped around my cock, and started working it up and down. My mind was going at fifty kilometers per hour. Scene after scene with Kuroko whirred through my thoughts. I gripped myself hard when I thought of Kuroko laying down in front of me-legs open, begging for me. With my free hand I braced myself on the tile wall, and bowed my head with gritted teeth. I couldn't help my breathing getting heavier. I was panting and moaning. All I could focus on was Kuroko's form and the pleasure I was feeling. My eyes were closed tightly-as if it would all disappear if I opened them. I quickened my pace, feeling the strain on my wrist, I started thrusting into my hand. My head fell back and my face relaxed as I came. I bit down on my lower lip to muffle the noises threatening to escape my throat.

My body shuddered as I came down off my high. I had to slump against the wall to prevent my knees from going out from beneath me. Breathing became easier as I collected myself. _What did I just..._ I was more confused than before. I had to talk to someone about this.


	3. Chapter 3

I shut the water off and walked back into the locker room. My towel was laying across the white, plastic bench in front of my open locker. After quickly toweling off the major parts, I wrapped the towel around me and took my cell phone out of the locker. My fingers spend over the keys, typing out a text message:

_Long time no see. Could I get your advice on something? -Kise_

I hit the send button and flipped my phone shut before setting it on the bench. I sifted through my clothes and pulled them on. While toweling my hair I heard my phone go off. _Buzz...Buzz...Buzz... _It vibrated off the bench and clattered onto the tile floor. I sighed at it. _Do I really want to talk to him about all this? It's not like he has any control over my life anymore...okay, that's a lie, but I don't want him to think... _I thought to myself. _No. This is Akashi. He always knows everything. And I can trust him. Plus, what other option do I have? _I bent down to pick up my phone and flicked it open to read the message:

_Meet me in your gym in five minutes. -Seijūro_

_Is he already here or something? His school isn't anywhere close to here..._I thought to myself. (Now I realize of course he'd have come to watch Kuroko and I play against each other. We are _his_ after all.)

I finished pulling on my clothes and fixed my hair in the small mirror attached to my locker door.

* * *

"Hello, Ryōta." A voice came from the top of the bleachers.

"Hey, Akashi!" I was excited to see him again. He may be a bit crazy sometimes, but he was a good friend when you need him-very protective.

"I see this school hasn't done much for you. They can hardly back you up. "

"So, you were here to watch?"

"Of course, I wanted to see how you would fair against Tetsuya. My prediction was right, of course," Akashi said with a cool tone. "You'll never beat someone who you can't imitate. That's why you haven't beaten Daiki, yet."

"Yet? You think I can beat him?"

"Not now, not in your current state, but you will. Now what is it that you need advice on? How to deal with injuring the boy you have an interest in who happens to be your friend?" Akashi sat on the top most row of bleachers and motioned for Kise to sit on the row below him. I clambered over the rows of seating and sat where he motioned with a bewildered look.

"How'd you know about-what do you mean interest? I'm so confused. I don't know what to do, or what this mean, or...anything!" I sighed and ran my fingers through my damp hair.

"Ryōta, you need to calm down. You're tendency to be overemotional is getting the better of you. It's been obvious that you're attracted to Tetsuya for some time," he paused and saw what must have been horror streaked across my face. He added, "but that's me. I know things. I notice things. I can see, unlike most people. You know this."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm always all over the place, but how do you mean I'm attracted to...him?" I closed my eyes. "Is that was this is?" I whispered. Akashi shifted and placed a hand on my shoulder. I flinched instinctively and opened my eyes wide. After a second, I relaxed and peered at him through the corner of my eye. "Sorry," I muttered. My former captain did something very out of character: he shifted himself down into the spot next to me and placed his hand back on my shoulder.

"Kise, ask what you came here to ask me." I lifted up my head and looked at him-one friend to another.

"What am I supposed to do? What can I do?" Akashi gave a half smile, his eyes shining under the yellow lights of the gymnasium. I could feel them penetrating me, but, for once, not in an uncomfortable way-it had more of a caring sense to it. My eyes shifted their focus from his face to his golden eye. Akashi smiled more fully.


	4. Chapter 4

I now had the will, confidence, and need to talk to Kuroko about all of this, but I had no clue where he was. Too bad our conversation lasted twenty minutes or I could have had a chance at catching up with him. He was probably back to his school by then... Akashi saw the strain on my face.

"He isn't that hard to find, you know," he said. I looked at him with confusion, and asked what he meant, but all he did was give me a knowing half smile in response.

* * *

Now I sat on the railing outside a restaurant I've never seen before. _What am I going to say? What if I scare him off? What if Kagami interrupts us? _Clearly, my determination disappeared with Akashi when he told me to wait here. All I could think about was now many ways things could go wrong; I didn't even touch on if they went well.

The heat from the city was swelling up around my feet and swirling up to my face. I could feel the beads of sweat slipping down my face. _Is this the heat or am I really that nervous? _

The door to the restaurant opened slowly and out stepped Kuroko. My eyes flitted to the bandages around his head.

"Kise-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Could we talk for a minute?" My voice was unfaltering even though my heart was close to breaking through my chest.

"Sure." I picked up my bag and motioned for us to go across the road.

"So, how's your head? I'm really sorry about that."

"Doctors say I'm fine, and it's no big deal. It happens in the game."

We walked across the busy street and over to a small park. I could see through the fence a couple of guys shooting hoops. I spotted a bench on the other side of the court and led the way.

"What would you like to talk about Kise-kun?" Kuroko asked, his blue eyes starring up at mine.

"Oh, Kuroko-cchi." I stopped myself from continuing. I could feel my voice ready to crack. My hands were clammy and my mouth was getting drier by the minute.

I sat in the middle of the bench and he sat next to me. I tried to sit up straight and look him in the eye, but those eyes are so piercing. I was frozen there. _Why can't I just look away? I want to go bury myself in a garden and never be found. _My mind wandered to what would happen if I actually buried myself in a garden until I was shaken back to reality.

"Kise-kun, are you all right?" Kuroko's small, pale hand was lightly shaking my shoulder.

I shook my head slightly. "Yeah..." I trailed off. Thankfully, our gaze was broken, but now I couldn't bring myself to look back at him; instead I watched as the boys on the basketball court played and fidgeted with my fingers in my lap.

"Didn't you want to talk to me about something?" I sighed.

"Yeah, I do. Kuroko-cchi, I-" I cut my sentence short when I spotted Kagami coming our way. "Could we talk about this another time. I'd rather not be interrupted by you new 'light'." He glanced quickly to Kagami's form approaching.

"Sure. Tomorrow in our old gym?"

"Sounds perfect to me." Although my smile didn't falter, I gave a heavy sigh. _Now I'm going to have these thoughts bouncing around my head for an entire day. When an hour downright freaked me out. Great. _"Kuroko-cchi, why did you go to Sierin in the first place? You could be playing at the good schools-you could be playing with me." I looked back at him and my stomach fluttered.


	5. Chapter 5

I slowly rolled over, trying to find the source of the non-stop beeping. I spotted flashing underneath my bed.

"Seriously," I rolled out of bed with a grunt.

Somehow my phone fell off my nightstand and behind a box under the bed. I pulled out the box, grabbing my phone and quickly shutting off the alarm. I reached up and placed the golden phone on the nightstand. I blinked a few times, ridding my eyes of sleep, and focused on the box in front of me. I traced my fingers across the cover of a book leaving streaks in the light layer of dust. I gingerly picked it up and lightly fell back onto my haunches cross-legged. I slowly flipped through the half-dusted book before stopping on a page near the middle.

"The Generation of Miracles"

The page was littered with photos of the team: Aomine shooting a layup, Akashi standing on the sidelines-watching with that golden eye, Momoi biting her thumb and clutching her clipboard, Midorima unwrapping his fingers, Murasakibara towering over a terrified opponent, and one of me smiling with my arms wide in the air after making a basket. There wasn't a single picture or mention of Kuroko.

I closed the book gently and set it on my knee. I sat like this for a moment-stroking the spine with a dusty finger.

* * *

Some of the steam from the shower cleared as I shook his towel out. After drying off, I wrapped it around my waist and walked back into my bedroom. As I passed by the nightstand, I kicked the box back under my bed and checked my phone. There was a text waiting from the photo shoot girl.

"Get ready not with whatever you want, and I'll be over soon. What's the address?"

I typed out my address and flipped the phone shut before slumping onto the bed, twirling the flip phone in my hands. _Hope my parents won't mind a girl coming over to hep me get dressed this early in the morning._

I got dressed in a peach linen button down shirt and tight skinny jeans before brushing my hair and teeth, then put some socks on. The phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Are you dressed?"

"Yeah, are you here?"

"Come outside." The phone clicked.

"Umm...okay?"

I walked through the apartment to the front door and stepped outside. The girl was waiting there wearing a green dress with a simple, brown belt and flats. Her hair was waving all the way down her back.

"Good, but sense you're meeting in a gym, you may want to change into something a bit less tight," she said while motioning to my lower half.

"What? You're here to pick me out an outfit for whatever this is, not to give me advice."

"This 'whatever this is' is personal. So, you should be personal-be yourself. It's about you, not high fashion." She turned her back and started to walk away. "But you really should put on different jeans."

* * *

I arrived at the gym fifteen minutes early with loose-fitting jeans on. I pushed open one of the double doors to find an empty room. I did another look around to make sure I didn't skip over Kuroko. No one was there.

I tried sitting down, but was too anxious. My mind was whirring with the same thoughts that plagued me yesterday. _What if he doesn't feel the same? What if you thinks I'm a freak?_ I stood up and started pacing up and down the side of the key. Minute after minute passed by. Finally, I stopped at the top of the key and stared at the net and let out a large sigh.

"This might help," a familiar voice said behind me.

I quickly turned around to see Kuroko standing a few feet away next to a basketball trolley, with one in his hand. He was wearing a gray, striped cardigan with a blue v-neck underneath and dark washed jeans. His collar bone was peaking out from under the soft fabric.

Kuorko tossed the ball to me; I caught it with a smack against my palms. Kuroko nodded to the hoop. I straightened up, smiled, and gave a nod before turning back to the basket.

I spread apart his feet, bent my knees, and gripped the ball before bringing it up to my face. I spread my fingers apart and let out a breath as I exploded out, releasing the ball. It spun off my fingers and into a clean arc.

_Swish._

The ball went through the net, bounced beneath the hoop and slowly bounced off towards the back wall. I straightened up with a smile.

"Too bad I can't do that'" Kuroko commented. I turned back to face him and took the two steps up to stand in front of him.

"You wouldn't be the Phantom man if you scored during games. People would be forced to notice you," I replied. We'd had this conversation countless times.

"I know, but I feel like that's all I am: a shadow. I don't care that I'm not recognized. I just don't think I'm doing enough to support Kagami."

"Kagami can support himself...if he can keep a clear head and work with the team. He's not your responsibility, he's his own." Kuroko sighed.

"I promised him I'd help him beat the Generation of Miracles," Kuroko explained, leaning on the all caddy.

"That kind of includes you, Kuroko-cchi," I said while leaning on the other side of the rack.

"Yeah, but you're taking this way too seriously. It's a game, a high school game."

"You're one to talk. You lost for the first time yesterday and broke down on the court," Kuroko smirked.

"Let's put that in the past, okay?" We both started laughing.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about, Kise-kun?" My laughing slowly diminished.

I bent down and put the brakes on the wheels of the cart and slid down onto the floor, leaning onto the basketballs. Kuroko walked around to the other side of the cart and joined me.

My nerves were calm.

"Kuroko-cchi...I've been changing lately. Especially with how I view certain people-you in particular." I stopped speaking and scrunched my face, my eyes searching the gym for some way to phrase this.

"Kise-kun, are you okay?" Kuroko put his hand on my knee. I looked over to him. Kuroko's brow was furrowed-hiding part of his wide, blue eyes. My eyes dropped down to Kuroko's hand; his thumb slowly and softly traced the threads of my loose jeans. Kuroko was watching me, concerned.

I slowly picked up my hand and placed it on top of Kuroko's.

We looked at each other.

"I have feelings for you."


End file.
